Punjab postpones decision to divest
stake in 4 PSUs
Chandigarh, August 25
The Punjab Government today held back its decision on disinvesting its stake in four public sector enterprises. A meeting of the sub-committee of the Cabinet today asked for “ more details” before reaching a conclusion on disinvestment.

India, Singapore sign MoU to expand flights
Singapore, August 25
India and Singapore have concluded an MoU, which will expand air services between the two countries, the
Singapore Transport Ministry
said today. “With this new expansion, carriers from both countries
will be able to start or expand flights between the Indian metropolitan
cities of Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad, and Singapore,” the
ministry said in a statement.

Models pose with a new range of footwear during a fashion show in Kolkata on
Wednesday.
— Reuters

New models of Japanese automaker Mazda Motor Corp.'s popular Roadster, known as the MX-5 in overseas markets, are shown to the media in Tokyo on Thursday. The open-top two-door sports car, features the newly developed compact 2-litre MZB engine and six-speed manual transmission. The price of the car ranges from 2.2 million yen ($ 19,989) to 2.75 million yen
($ 24,986).— AP/PTI

Motorola to invest $ 100 m in IndiaMay set up manufacturing facilityNew Delhi, August 25
Telecom equipment major Motorola will invest up to $ 100 million in India and may consider setting up a manufacturing facility here.

CDMA telecom operators for
Rs 100 cr entry fee
New Delhi, August 25
CDMA-based telecom operators have suggested a Rs 100 crore entry fee for direct connectivity between two circles, saying that it was necessary to maintain a level playing field under IndiaOne plan proposed by the Department of Telecom.

Tatas plan 10 MT steel plant
in Jharkhand
Ranchi, August 25
Tata is planning to set up a steel university in Jharkhand, according to MD B. Muthuraman.
The Managing Director also said the proposed 10 MT new steel plant,
which would be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 35,000 crore in two
phases in four years, would create employment opportunities to about
30,000 people directly and indirectly.

Emami to diversify into biofuel cultivation
Kolkata, August 25
The Rs 700-crore Emami Group plans to diversify into Jatropha (biofuel) cultivation.
Emami Ltd Chairman R.S. Agarwal told reporters that the company has
already applied for 300 acres of land and has been allotted 50 acres
near Bolpur in West Bengal.

HP to launch sub-Rs 20,000 computers
Kolkata, August 25
Joining the bandwagon of low-priced PCs, Hewlett-Packard India would launch
sub-Rs 20,000 consumer desktops within the next three months.

Amartex to raise Rs 60 cr
New Delhi, August 25
Haryana-based Amartex Industries Ltd today announced plans to hit the capital market by year-end to raise around Rs 60 crore and invest it in increasing its retail outlets from the present 30 to 50 by the end of 2006-07 fiscal.

Chandigarh, August 25
The Punjab Government today held back its decision on disinvesting its stake in four public sector enterprises. A meeting of the sub-committee of the Cabinet today asked for “ more details” before reaching a conclusion on disinvestment.

The government was to disinvest from Punjab Communication Limited (Puncom), Punjab Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (PACL), Conware and Punjab Tourism. These four companies had been recommended for disinvestment by a committee headed by a former Chief Secretary, Mr P.H. Vaishnav.

Sources said more details had been sought regarding legal formalities and also the nature of holdings.

In PACL, the Punjab Government has a plan to off-load 44 per cent of the stake having a face value of Rs 90 crore.

The sources said this company had been on the disinvestment list for long and the process was culminating now. A total of six bidders have already submitted their plans to take over the company having its unit at Nangal, Ropar district.

In case of Puncom, a fresh process for disinvestment is to start. The government intends to offload 74 per cent stake in the company. In 2001, the company was on the disinvestment list but the process could not completed. The Punjab Government intends to sell-off its stake to a private bidder and not through a public offer. The rest of the 26 per cent stake in Puncom is already held by the public.

The reason for disinvestment, in Puncom that is worth Rs 200 to 250 crore, is that the government has opined that it was difficult to keep pace in an industry where technology changes very fast. By the time the government takes a decision, technology is on its way out.

Puncom is a telecommunication company and technology of wireless communication, traditional landline telephones and telecom equipment is changing fast.

The company has its unit in Mohali and owns about 10 acres of land in Mohali, which alone is worth at least Rs 50 crore in the open market. It has 3 lakh square feet working area and an assembly unit.

In tourism, the government wants to disinvest from units that are not making profits. Some of them are located along important highways. Conware is a subsidiary of the Punjab Warehousing Corporation.

The Punjab Government has already disinvested from Punjab Tractors Limited.

New Delhi, August 25
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar today defended the expenditure of over Rs 266 crore by the oil marketing companies — IOC, IBP, HPCL and BPCL — on sponsorships and advertisements saying it was necessary to maintain market share amidst intense competition with the entry of private sector.

“This is not a wasteful expenditure. The overall expenditure by these oil marketing companies constitute hardly 0.1 per cent of their total sales turnover,” Mr Aiyar said in the Lok Sabha during the Question Hour.

On the issue that consumers were being subjected to high fuel prices at the cost of “this wasteful expenditure”, he said Rs 266 crore spent on sponsorship and advertisements was almost negligible considering the whopping Rs 20,000 crore under recoveries by these oil marketing companies last year.

The under recoveries could go up to Rs 40,000 crore this year and expenditure of Rs 230 crore spent on advertisement would hardly make any difference on fuel cost.

IBP’s SOS to govt

Petro retailer IBP, a subsidiary of IndianOil Corp, has sent an SOS to the government warning it would go bankrupt by September end if the company was not allowed to raise petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene prices.

IBP, which reported a net loss of Rs 233.97 crore in April-June quarter of 2005-06 fiscal, is projecting a further loss of Rs 495 crore in the second quarter due to the freeze on fuel price despite cost jumping by 26 per cent since last revision.

“The company’s accumulated net worth will be eroded completely at the end of September 2005 and hence, the company will become sick,” IBP Managing Director N.G. Kannan last week wrote to Petroleum Secretary S.C. Tripathi.

Petrol is currently being sold at Rs 7.42 a litre below the cost of import while diesel is under priced by Rs 5.86 per litre. Public sector oil firms are incurring a loss of Rs 11.21 a litre on sale of kerosene and over Rs 100 on sale of every LPG cylinder.

IOC to raise loan

To meet its fund requirements, IndianOil Corporation Ltd (IOC) has signed agreements to raise $ 670 million as foreign currency loan.

Of this, $ 200 million would be utilised to refinance existing syndicated term loans and the balance would be used to meet crude oil import requirements of IndianOil.

Singapore, August 25
The crude oil prices hit a record $ 68 a barrel today after the USA reported a decline in gasoline stocks and China said its crude imports spiked in July, as strong demand on the mainland shows no signs of easing.

Front-month October contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange touched $ 68 a barrel mid-morning in Singapore before easing slightly to $ 67.76, a gain of 44 cents from yesterday’s closing in New York.

On an inflation-adjusted basis, the oil prices would need to hit about $ 90 a barrel to match the highs of 25 years ago.

Meanwhile, the IMF chief said that the oil prices would remain at high levels as robust demand shows no signs of easing.
— AP, AFP

Singapore, August 25
India and Singapore have concluded an MoU, which will expand air services between the two countries, the
Singapore Transport Ministry
said today.

“With this new expansion, carriers from both countries will be able to start or expand flights between the Indian metropolitan cities of Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad, and Singapore,” the ministry said in a statement.

The air services talks were held on August 23 and 24 in New Delhi.

“This latest MoU further strengthens the excellent civil aviation relations between Singapore and India. There has been strong growth of air traffic between India and Singapore, and three new airlines Air Sahara, Jet Airways and Jetstar Asia, have started operations between Singapore and India in 2005 alone,” said Mr
B.G. Choi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Singapore.

New Delhi, August 25
Telecom equipment major Motorola will invest up to $ 100 million in India and may consider setting up a manufacturing facility here.

“We will invest $ 100 million over the next three years”, Motorola Chief Executive Officer Edward Zander told newspersons on the sidelines of a conference organised by FICCI here.

The fact that the company already had 2,900 persons working here “shows the level of commitment to this market”. The company would increase its headcount in India by another 1000 by the end of next year in its R&D centres in Hyderabad and Bangalore.

About setting up a manufacturing facility here, he said although the company
had no immediate plans, “We are considering it. We need to grow our market share here”.

Speaking at the meeting organised by FICCI here, he said that India was an “incredible market”. “We are determined to commit more resources and people” in a bid to ensure that everyone gets connected and thereafter provided with seamless mobility.

Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Motorola Padmashree Warrior said that seamless mobility provided users with new forms of entertainment and new levels of enjoyment and productivity.

New Delhi, August 25
Nokia announced today that it planned to open a global network operations centre in India by year-end.

The centre would perform network operation tasks primarily for
select operators in the Asia Pacific region as well as Europe, Middle East and Africa as part of the company’s managed services offering.

The location of the site, which would initially employ up to 100 persons, would be unveiled at a later date.

“Given Nokia’s strong commitment to its expanding services business, plus the positive experience it has enjoyed in India both as a growth and services market, the decision to locate the operation centre in India was an easy one to make”, Simon Beresford-Wylie, Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Networks, of the company, said here today.

Nokia had contracted managed services with 34 clients in 28 countries, and had provided operating services for over 20 operators globally, assisting them with day-to-day tasks of running their networks so that they could focus on improving their business offerings.

New Delhi, August 25
CDMA-based telecom operators have suggested a Rs 100 crore entry fee for direct connectivity between two circles, saying that it was necessary to maintain a level playing field under IndiaOne plan proposed by the Department of Telecom.

The CDMA players Association
AUSPI, which includes Reliance Infocomm and Tata Teleservices, has also said that a single rate for local and long distance should be avoided in the proposed ‘IndiaOne’ plan, saying that it might cause local rates to go up.

An increase in local rates is not desirable and also not possible due to the existing ADC and inter-connect usage charges regime that involves payments like carriage and termination charges, AUSPI said in its submission to DoT on the IndiaOne plan.

“Inter-circle direct connectivity should be allowed only after levying a Rs 100 crore entry fee. National long-distance service is a separate licence for which a huge entry fee has been paid and roll-out obligations undertaken.

“In the interest of maintaining a level-playing field, any inter-circle connectivity should be permitted only after levying a payment of Rs 100 crore,” it said.

The other proposal includes merging the access deficit charge with the USO Fund, more spectrum for CDMA players on the 800 Mhz band
frpa’. — PTI

Ranchi, August 25
Tata is planning to set up a steel university in Jharkhand, according to MD B. Muthuraman.

The Managing Director also said the proposed 10 MT new steel plant, which would be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 35,000 crore in two phases in four years, would create employment opportunities to about 30,000 people directly and indirectly.

He further said the renewal of lease by the state government, had gave a fresh lease of life to Tata Steel. Over the 100 years that the Tatas were present in Jamshedpur, it had not only set up the best steel plant in the world, but had also tried giving the people of Jharkhand a better quality of life, the statement said.

When asked whether it was a knee-jerk reaction of his group in the aftermath of steel giant L. N Mittal group’s decision to invest in Jharkhand, Mr Muthuraman said the group had been planning to set up at least three new plants in the country since 2000. And after Orissa and Chhattisgarh, “the home of Tatas - Jharkhand” was the best choice for the largest steel plant of the Tata group, he said.

When the Chief Minister was asked whom he would give preference, he said it was the people of the state that would definitely get the first preference.
— UNI

Kolkata, August 25
Joining the bandwagon of low-priced PCs, Hewlett-Packard India would launch sub-Rs 20,000 consumer desktops within the next three months.

“We will launch sub-Rs 20,000 PCs in the next three months,” HP General Manager (Consumer Sales) V. Krishnan said here today.

Admitting that the price would still be higher compared to the sub-Rs 10,000 brands launched by some competitors, Mr Krishnan said the company intended to offer best-value proposition to its customers.

Though Mr Krishnan declined to state the configurations for the sub-Rs 20,000 PCs, he said “We will offer the best configurations at that price.”

“The PCs would be offered both with the Linux and Windows operating systems and at least one model would have Intel processor”, he said.
— PTI

New Delhi, August 25
Haryana-based Amartex Industries Ltd today announced plans to hit the capital market by year-end to raise around Rs 60 crore and invest it in increasing its retail outlets from the present 30 to 50 by the end of 2006-07 fiscal.

The Panchkula-headquartered textile manufacturing and retailer firm aims to shed its north India-centric presence and spread to the rest of the country, its Managing Director Arun Grover told reporters here.

Amartex’s first retail outlet in the Capital would open in Paschim Vihar on August 27. “We are planning to open eight or 10 such shops in Delhi and the National Capital Region by the end of the next fiscal at a total investment of around Rs 20 crore.

RIL’s $ 348 million term-loan facility
Mumbai, August 25
Reliance Industries Ltd said today it had mandated a group of leading international banks for a three-year $ 348 million syndicated term-loan facility. The facility intends to refinance two existing higher cost loans, thereby achieving significant cost savings for the company, RIL said.
— PTI

IA fleet
New Delhi, August 25
Seeking to get a good bargain in the fleet acquisition plan of the Indian Airlines, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
tonight referred the matter to an empowered Group of Ministers (eGoM) for a final round of price negotiation with European aircraft manufacturer Airbus
Industries. The final round of negotiations would be carried out with the European consortium “within a month”, sources said after an hour-long meeting of CCEA chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
— PTI

Novell buys out Indian jv
Mumbai, August 25
Global infrastructure software and services provider Novell has acquired total control of the Indian joint venture (jv) Onward Novell by buying out the balance 50 per cent stake of its erstwhile partner Onward Technologies for an undisclosed sum. “The acquisition will further strengthen our commitment towards India besides helping us in integrating Indian operations,” Novell Asia Pacific President Rhonda O’Donnell said here today.
— PTI

Convergys India
New Delhi, August 25
US call centre giant Convergys Corporation today announced the appointment of Mr Koustuv Mitra as Senior Director and Head of Human Resources in India for the company’s customer care operations.
— UNI

Quality award
Mumbai, August 25
Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd said today its US subsidiary Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc (RPI) had received the Supplier Quality Award from Cardinal Health, the second largest wholesaler in the US. Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc (RPI), based in Florida, USA, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ranbaxy Laboratories.
— PTI

R&D powerhouse
Washington, August 25
As the USA and Europe are moving research and development (R&D operations to India, hopes are high that this could turn the country into a virtual R&D powerhouse. According to “Knowledge@Wharton”, the influential Wharton Business School publication,
which has brought out a special section on India this week, said the country is also emerging as a basic research hub.
— UNI

Stake sold
Mumbai, August 25
ING Vysya said today it had completed the sale of its entire stake of 14.87 per cent in ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Pvt Ltd to Gujarat Ambuja Cement Ltd (GACL). Pursuant to IRDA approval, the sale transaction was completed today by the transfer of shares of ING Vysya Life Insurance in favour of GACL, the bank said.
— PTI

Hyundai strike
Seoul, August 25
The labour union of South Korea’s largest carmaker Hyundai Motors launched a partial walkout today after the company rejected demands for higher wages and better working conditions, officials said. More than 30,000 workers downed tools for two hours today. They would launch a six-hour walkout tomorrow. Hyundai Motors said losses caused by the walkout would exceed $ 30.4 million.
— AFP

DSP Merrill Lynch launches Super SIP
Chandigarh, August 25
DSP Merrill Lynch today announced the launch of a facility, where investments made through a monthly systematic investment plan (SIP) also provides the investor with life insurance cover.
Mr S. Naganath, President and CIO, DSP Merrill Lynch Fund Managers, said: “This product encourages investors to invest
systematically in equities and benefit from the twin concepts of rupee cost averaging and the power of compounding”. There are two options — variable cover available for tenures of 6,11 and 16 years and fixed cover available for a tenure of 21 years. The introductory offer for this facility is from September 9 to October 25.
— TNS

RIM service for
Mandi
Mandi, August 25
India’s cellular service major, Reliance Infocomm Limited, today launched its Reliance IndiaMobile (RIM) service here to provide seamless connectivity through its latest CDMA technology. Talking to the reporters here today, Mr P.S. Bakhi, in charge of Reliance Infocomm Ltd, in the region said customers would get the service in the town from today. “The company has set up its optical fibre cable network in the town that would provide service in Mandi, Ner Chowk and Sunder Nagar. During the inaugural launch, the customers would get a free talk time for 15 days from today. “From RIM to RIM and RIM to SMART, customers would get free call service,” he added.
The tribal districts of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur would be covered during the next phase next year,” he hoped.
— TNS

Jagsonpal pays out 20 per cent
Chandigarh, August 25
Jagsonpal Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a Delhi-based manufacturer of therapeutic medicines and healthcare products, has announced a dividend of 20 per cent for its shareholders on 2.62 crore-equity shares having a post-split face value of Rs 5 each. This decision was taken at the meeting of the Board of Directors today. According to a spokesperson, the company has split its equity share of Rs 10 into two equity shares of Rs 5 each so that maximum number of persons can invest in the company’s stocks. The company rewarded its shareholders with a handsome bonus of 3:1 in 2004-05, which witnessed a high volume
trade of the company stocks. Jagsonpal went public in 1986 and was listed on the BSE in the same year. The board also recommended voluntary delisting of equity shares from the Delhi Stock Exchange Association
Limited and the Ludhiana Stock Exchange Association Limited as a result of the negligible trading taking places at these exchanges.
— TNS